


Built from the Ground Up

by theroadtocome



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, I am a terrible person, M/M, Minor Levi/Erwin Smith, frankenstein! au, genderqueer hanji, mad scientist! Hanji, minor yumikuri - Freeform, mute reiner, what does one even tag this peice of work as
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-14
Packaged: 2018-02-13 05:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2138106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theroadtocome/pseuds/theroadtocome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanji, a lonely scientist looking to perfect the human body, ends up dealing with the ultimate taboo - creating life from cadavers sewn together. They have to struggle with the joys of parenting undead super soldiers who have a quirky habit of turning into giant monsters. Hijinks ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Built from the Ground Up

Hanji tapped their fingers restlessly on the rotted desk, running the calculations through their head again and again. Theoretically speaking, it was entirely plausible that what they proposed would work. The equations were perfect; there was only one problem. When they pulled the lever for the first time, their creation sizzled and fried instead of animating. They used the exact voltage needed to kickstart a human heart under any other condition. So what if it was post mortem? Wait. Stop the presses, they were on to something. Hanji pounded on the desk, pushing themself away and to the whiteboard on the other end of the room. They hadn't accounted for the exchange and flow of blood - the blood in the cadaver must have to be fresh for it to work. Victorious, Hanji hopped to their feet.

"Moblit!" They called, grin wide and long hair being pulled into a ponytail. The intern came scurrying from the recesses of the castle, with his arms full of papers and charts, and skidded to a stop in front of the scientist.

"Call Levi," Hanji said quickly, taking the pile and tossing it haphazardly on the floor. "Tell him I need 5.5 liters of blood, any type, I'm not picky." Moblit cast forlorn eyes to the papers he had spent the day organizing. "Better yet, just tell him to come over, and I can fill him in on everything I want."

"Alright, Dr. Zoe." Moblit nodded and recovered the telephone from the mess of his employer's workspace. Hanji giggled, patting the back of their nervous intern. "Don't worry, Moblit. I have a feeling it will work this time."

* * *

Levi was, in short, pissed. In long, he was covered in mud and sweat; he had trudged to Hanji's shitty castle, in the rain, just so he could take their dead body order. As if he was fucking _corpse McDonald's._ He rapped loudly on the door with the ornate knockers, and he grew more tense by the minute. Moblit, mousy and tense as ever, opened the huge door with strain. Levi tried to keep the disdain from his face as he eyed the takeout cartons strewn around the floor. How his friend managed to live in such squalor was beyond him. Of course, most of Hanji's personality was beyond him.

"Hey," He shouted, shrugging off his coat and hanging it neatly on the rack beside him, "Get down here."

"I think they're in the lab? I'll go get them." Moblit rushed up the stairs and disappeared from sight. Levi sighed, before he wiped his hands off with a handkerchief he had stowed neatly in his pocket. On either side of the entry hall were two sets of stairs leading up into the second story. He knew them intimately, from the amount of times he had slipped on some experiment Hanji had left in his wake. He knew if he went straight he would find a great dining hall, and even farther than that were Jean, the maid's, quarters. Up the stairs were more and more bedrooms. There were enough to house everyone Levi ever knew and more, but only the trio actually used them. The castle was only endowed with one tower, and it was there that Hanji would be holed up.

Levi heaved himself up the stairs. He traveled the well-worn path of rugs leading to the lab. At the base of the spiral stairs leading to an eccentric nightmare was a large library of sorts. When he was younger, he would sit on the sill of the window with a good book for hours. They extended high into the vaulted ceiling, and each were adorned with a comfortable chair in front of them. To Levi's surprise, wiping at the windows with fervor unusual to him, was Jean. The lighter part of his hair was darkened with sweat.

"You're doing good," He stated. Jean jumped and whipped his head around, but he visibly relaxed when his eyes landed on Levi. Absently, he ran his fingers through his undercut and tried his best at an aloof smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"Hey, man." He said, voice shaky. Levi quirked an eyebrow in questioning. Somewhere off in the distance they heard a clap of thunder. Jean jumped again, glaring behind him.

"Spill. What's wrong with you?" Levi asked bluntly. Not even the heavy rain could drown out the breath catching in Jean's throat. _Ah_. It had something to do with Hanji.

"Nothing, dude. I'm totally fine." He lied. Levi held his gaze, lips set in a thin line, and Jean swallowed thickly. Levi stared at the kid's reflection in the window. His gaze was off into the distance, but he didn't seem to focus on anything. Levi brought a hand up to pat Jean's shoulder; he hesitated when a wail and crash from above made the kid jump.

"Listen, Kirschtein," He sighed, putting his hand down, "This is all for the betterment of humanity. Humans will be stronger, faster, healthier. The process is dubious at best, sure, but _god damn_ if it won't pay off." He climbed two stairs before he turned to Jean again.

"Take a few days off. This shit'll be over by then." It wasn't much, but he clung to the hope that Jean would at least appreciate his effort.

* * *

Two days later, Hanji, Moblit, and Levi stood in the lab, anticipating the worst and hoping for the best. Machines whirred and hummed as they pumped artificial life through the cadaver. His skin gained a rosy tint, and Levi noted with pride that the room smelled considerably less like burnt flesh than the last attempt.

"Do you see that?" Hanji cried with manic glee, "His body is accepting the blood and his heart is pumping!"

"His heart..." Levi repeated quietly. Moblit hastily wrote notes on his clipboard.

Hanji ran to the controls of their machines, whooping wildly and flipping switches. The cadaver groaned. Its chest rose and fell like the thing was breathing. Like it was alive. The scientist stopped what they were doing, hands hovering in midair, and their eyes were trained on the body.

"Glasses? _Hanji?_ " Levi cried out over the roar of the machines, "What the fuck is going on?" Moblit hushed him with a wave of his hand. Hanji was staring intently at the body, scrutinizing its every appearence.

The flesh of his torso was darker than his neck, and his left hand was a tad smaller than his right, but he was perfect. Closely cropped blond hair framed his face, and Hanji couldn't help but smile at his crooked nose. It was like someone had beaten him badly, but they assured him silently that it added character.

"Doctor Zoe...?" Moblit whispered, as if the cadaver would hear him.

"He's alive," They replied. They cried a bright affirmation of life to their intern, embracing him tightly to their chest. Hot tears pricked at their eyes, and they soon streamed down their face. "My baby boy is alive."

The body started to shift and twist. The air heated around him, and he grew larger and longer. His flesh began to resemble that of a crude mockery of musculature as it melded together under his stitches. Hanji quickly pulled the threads from his body.

"Jesus Christ!" Levi yelled, backing away from the monstrosity. It stopped growing, large enough to be over ten feet, and opened its eyes.

"Even the regeneration worked," Hanji said breathlessly. Sweat dripped down their back, but they didn't seem to care. "The whole process, it - it worked." His transformation ended as soon as it begun, and before Levi understood what was going on, a naked beast of a man was laying on the table once again. The man shifted to sit up, but Hanji laid their hands firmly on his shoulders. "Don't try to get up, you're too weak still! I don't want you to get hurt."

The man shifted into a sleeping position and stared blankly at the scientist. They carded their fingers through his hair, whispering softly to him.

"I think I'm going to name you Reiner."

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! First off, I want to thank anyone who took the time to read the first chapter of this story. I know it's super short, but the next one will actually have plot and depth, I swear! It's the first fanfic I've ever published and I'm super nervous!! I would love some concrit, or any sort of feedback - but it's totally okay to just skip over this too. I plan to update every week!! Thanks again for reading!!!


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